Tour Divide 2018 Race Preparation

[davew]

 Saves me the hassle of lugging around an awkward size box through the airport.

Put it on a trolly, check in, and drop at oversized. It is not a complicated or arduous task.

[flyboy]

Put it on a trolly, check in, and drop at oversized. It is not a complicated or arduous task.

Even if it was an arduous or complicated task it would be perfect training for the TD. Get used to words like hard, arduous, brutal, painful, awkward, cold, hot and even mind-numbing. They, plus many more, will get much use during your ride. 

[Woodland]

Which prepared foods do people find carry well and last at least a day without getting nasty? I've carried xtra cheeseburgers from McD's, fried chicken, fries, and sandwiches...

[clancy]

I carry  Hammer Perpetuem, only problem is resupply, but you can mail yourself some General Del. Add a few bars that you like and you are good to go, you can always augment your supplies along the trail.

[Iowagriz]

Which prepared foods do people find carry well and last at least a day without getting nasty? I've carried xtra cheeseburgers from McD's, fried chicken, fries, and sandwiches...

Frozen burrito in my jersey pocket was perfectly warmed by the time I hit Red Meadow Lake, perfect for a lunch.

Subway sandwich without the mayo, ask them for the mayo packets to go.

Grilled Ham and Cheese one time was also a fantastic dinner, got it at the same place as lunch.

[Woodland]

Grilled ham and cheese sounds a lot better than Hammer and a few bars.

Never thought to put a frozen burrito in a jersey pocket to warm it...that's clever!

I'm sure I will overpack food during this ride as I'm always scared of running out. I've got a decent cue sheet together that has distances between towns and notable landmarks/water along the way - so that when I am in town I can quickly see how many miles to the next store/restaurant/water.

I'm bringing a small pencil and notebook in hopes I can 'prepare' a list ahead of time and not walk into a gas/grocery store and walk aimlessly down aisles. I've been there and bought a bunch of crap I shouldn't have. Not sure if the notebook will work or not...we'll see.

I feel like any more planning I do now is redundant and superfluous...time to ride. I'm getting antsy

[bon]

Which prepared foods do people find carry well and last at least a day without getting nasty? I've carried xtra cheeseburgers from McD's, fried chicken, fries, and sandwiches...

Burritos, and more burritos. I also love crackers filled with cheese or peanut butter.

[eec]

Which prepared foods do people find carry well and last at least a day without getting nasty? I've carried xtra cheeseburgers from McD's, fried chicken, fries, and sandwiches...

Food consumption seems to be a big concern during this race, but I'm curious as to how much the leaders/racers actually consume. It's scientifically documented that the average athlete can uptake anywhere between 200-300 calories per hour, meaning that's how much your body can process per hour. So stopping for food and eating two pizzas (let's say for a total of about 1,500+ calories), your body can only process 200-300 of that in the next hour, efficiently. Seems like the better way to go is to eat small, regularly, therefore limiting time spent stopping for/eating large meals, and keeping your system efficient. Personally, I can't imagine stopping mid effort and downing a large meal, and then getting back on the bike and get back into effort. After a nap, maybe.

[BobM]

Food consumption seems to be a big concern during this race, but I'm curious as to how much the leaders/racers actually consume. It's scientifically documented that the average athlete can uptake anywhere between 200-300 calories per hour, meaning that's how much your body can process per hour. So stopping for food and eating two pizzas (let's say for a total of about 1,500+ calories), your body can only process 200-300 of that in the next hour, efficiently. Seems like the better way to go is to eat small, regularly, therefore limiting time spent stopping for/eating large meals, and keeping your system efficient. Personally, I can't imagine stopping mid effort and downing a large meal, and then getting back on the bike and get back into effort. After a nap, maybe.

Well, I ain't no leader  but I hear that some serious athletic types set their watch alarms for something like 10-15 minutes and take a bite and a swig each time it goes off.

[Woodland]

I've found I need 250kcal/hr - and if I get a bunch of that in one sitting or spread out over several mini 'meals' than so be it. It's hard to pass up a burger or pizza. And I don't mind climbing back on the bike with a full belly.

Someone mentioned that a place like Safeway makes a great stop because you can get supplies and 'dinner' in the same store thereby limiting time resupplying - of course there are only so many Safeway's on the route...

[woody]

Grilled ham and cheese and get an fried egg throw on there
Also, cooked pepperoni pizza in zip lock bag will last a good day or more.
As mentioned above Never get mayo added on a sandwich, always in a packet if you want it.

[jthops]

Food consumption seems to be a big concern during this race, but I'm curious as to how much the leaders/racers actually consume. It's scientifically documented that the average athlete can uptake anywhere between 200-300 calories per hour, meaning that's how much your body can process per hour. So stopping for food and eating two pizzas (let's say for a total of about 1,500+ calories), your body can only process 200-300 of that in the next hour, efficiently. Seems like the better way to go is to eat small, regularly, therefore limiting time spent stopping for/eating large meals, and keeping your system efficient. Personally, I can't imagine stopping mid effort and downing a large meal, and then getting back on the bike and get back into effort. After a nap, maybe.

Once you get into calorie deficit, the GI adapts very well to handling more calories. It takes most people a few days to get to this point, but once you do the body will use and store as many calories as you can give it. Small doses are easier to digest, but you have to give it bigger doses just to keep up. Everyone has a unique capacity, so each person has to figure out what they can handle, but there are good data suggesting that the gut can be trained to handle different types and amounts of food.

[GrizzlyAdam]

I can't imagine stopping mid effort and downing a large meal, and then getting back on the bike and get back into effort. After a nap, maybe.

You'll imagine it pretty quickly when the food monster wakes up. When that happens, you'll be hungry before you eat, while you're eating, and after you eat. And after you eat again. Hunger and a voracious appetite are like headwinds and thunderstorms on multi-day rides. Always lingering...

[kiwidave]

Which prepared foods do people find carry well and last at least a day without getting nasty? I've carried xtra cheeseburgers from McD's, fried chicken, fries, and sandwiches...

I found that it took a few days for my body (GI) to be able to adapt and didn't feel hungry (or eat much) until Eureka. Apparently this is not unusual - the body is in competition for using blood supply to ride and to digest food. I struggled to eat the entire race, but on repeat I would: 1. Focus more on proteins than carbs. Carbs are plentiful on the TD. 2. Drink more - I often had a dry mouth and struggled to eat bars etc. tortilla+peanut butter was tough to eat on the Mesa. 3. Send some powdered food (Perpetum etc) to some PO's at resupply points just in case and take some at the start (I had 3, used 2 on the first days and carried one to AW). 4. Burgers etc - get them halved and wrapped to eat over some hours. 5. Good advice above on the mayo - I didn't do that and had to dump the food. 6. Gatorade is everywhere and is your friend.

Main thing is I would try to put on 3%-4% body-weight over the last few weeks.

Most service stations have energy bars but the further down the race order you are the more limited the supply. Fig Newtons are great as they are moist too. Cheese sticks and jerky for protein. Choc milk most stops too. Fresh juice was available most places too so that was a good way to get in some nutrients.
 

[THE LONG RANGER]

So stopping for food and eating two pizzas (let's say for a total of about 1,500+ calories), your body can only process 200-300 of that in the next hour, efficiently. Seems like the better way to go is to eat small, regularly, therefore limiting time spent stopping for/eating large meals, and keeping your system efficient. Personally, I can't imagine stopping mid effort and downing a large meal, and then getting back on the bike and get back into effort. After a nap, maybe.

Honestly, that sounds fair. I would experiment before you try it out though, as it may be culturally strange to not have a few large meals throughout the day and switch to, "constant graze" mode. But if that works well for you, it works well for you.

On the flip side, 300 cals x 24 hours is 7,200 cals/day, which is quite a lot of cals. Think of how many hours/day you plan on being on the move. Is it around 18? So, 6 of the hours x 300 is 1800. That's one sit down meal, which by your estimate would fulfill the digesting ability for an athlete for those 6 hours. Sounds like eating a meal, right before you sleep then, eh?

From experience though, I kinda wouldn't worry about it. One of the benefits of this race is that you can literally eat whatever you want, whenever you want. And if you want to play it safe, eat MORE than you think you need to. My problem is that long days of riding are actually a hunger *suppressor*, so if not kept in check, I can just forget to eat enough, I don't bonk, I just lose a ton of weight, quickly. Easy way to do that is to have a big meal/meals, then snack when it's convenient.

You may also experience the rudeness of finally stopping and having to re-adjust to normal eating modes, where you cannot just shovel food in your face, and fresh things are more readily available.

Anyways, whatever you would like to do, experiment WELL BEFORE the race. And even then, expect surprises. I would not want to be a picky eater on this race!

[aarond]

It looks like nearly 15 riders will be heading NOBO this year (so far).  I am looking for a ride to the start from Silver City, either the night before or morning of the race, or, if anyone has the names of the shuttle services that would he helpful also.

Thanks.

[taprider]

Hey Aaron
are you going to detour to do the Big Horn part way?
or just turn around in Banff then race the Big Horn one week later? (well for you, it will likely be a 2 1/2 week break in between races)

[aarond]

Hey Aaron
are you going to detour to do the Big Horn part way?
or just turn around in Banff then race the Big Horn one week later? (well for you, it will likely be a 2 1/2 week break in between races)

Hopefully I will finish before Big Horn, but I will only be 'officiating' at Big Horn anyway.

[Adam Alphabet]

It looks like nearly 15 riders will be heading NOBO this year (so far).  I am looking for a ride to the start from Silver City, either the night before or morning of the race, or, if anyone has the names of the shuttle services that would he helpful also.

Thanks.

Are you triple crowning in reverse this year Aaron? Deah!

[aarond]

I doubt it.  Thought about it, but since I started azt one day late, I missed the gd and thus am not technically qualified for the triple crown.  Still, if I am not too destroyed after tdr, ctr would be "fun"...By the way, nice ss run on the aztr!